Mrg, I disagree with running uptempo simply because you think you are better than the other team. IMO the reason you should run uptempo is because you have more depth than your opponent. Like Jones, I've had a lot of really good teams where I've run slowdown simply because my starters were much better than my bench, so I wanted to maximize their minutes, and thus the advantage I have over my opponents. Had I run normal or uptempo with teams like that I'd be decreasing the time my starters were on the floor and decreasing my edge.

So if you have a team where you have 8+ really good players, run uptempo, it will maximize the advantage you have. For example with my WVU team right now I'm running uptempo for the first time in D1 simply because I have 9 players that could be #1 scoring options on a lot of D1 teams so I want to force the other team's bench to play as much as possible so they match up with my bench who will almost always be much better.

I would have to agree - I find myself running slowdown and normal quite a bit, Uptempo only when I think there is something to exploit; like a team running only an eight man rotation that I think I can tire out. Or a depth problem.

So would it be better if I ran slow down with my team if I want to receive individual awards? I know they are based on stats. I run a lot of uptempo with my zone teams not necessarily because of better depth but because of the zone stamina benefits and the shear volume of shots I think put me over the top sometimes. I've tried running normal and slow down when the opportunities for it have presented themselves but I seem to come up short.

I've never understood the coach calls. If you make player calls you get a slight recruiting boost along with it. Also, if their answer is no you have a chance of them rejecting the call and saving the $10.

Posted by m4284850 on 4/8/2012 7:06:00 PM (view original):very helpful. But I have a question:It seems like your D1 team does not have very high REB ratings (but yet they're extremely successful), how important is REB in big men?

I had one good run with my D1 team, but I'm only in my 6th or so season of D1. I think rebounding is as important in HD as it is in real basketball-- it's not important unless it's important. What I mean by that is that a lot of great teams don't necessarily stress rebounding (sure, some teams do, and extra possessions are nice), many of them stress getting back instead of O-rebounding, for example.

Essentially, there are diminishing returns with great rebounding teams. You need so much rebounding, but you can't get it as the sacrifice of other stats. As I mention in the recruiting bit numerous times, just because you say "I have a marginal rebounding team" doesn't mean you need to recruit a 90 rebounding center instead of an 80 rebounding center at the expense of the first player having 60 defense instead of 80 defense.

You should strive to have an adequate rebounding team, but it's not necessary to be elite at it, especially since being great at it usually makes you cough up an edge somewhere else (if you get a great rebounding SF, he's unlikely to be a great offensive option for example).

Rebounding is important-- I'd never put myself in a position where my starters weren't each 70+ rebounders at D3 or 80+ rebounders at D2 unless I had good rebounding guards or something-- it's just not THAT important (it isn't as important as defense, for instance).

Posted by rednation58 on 4/8/2012 7:53:00 PM (view original):So would it be better if I ran slow down with my team if I want to receive individual awards? I know they are based on stats. I run a lot of uptempo with my zone teams not necessarily because of better depth but because of the zone stamina benefits and the shear volume of shots I think put me over the top sometimes. I've tried running normal and slow down when the opportunities for it have presented themselves but I seem to come up short.

If you want individual awards, run more possessions to get bulk stats. Fast paced is definitely the way to go. Slow down will probably increase your efficiency for your starters and decrease your teams' number of possessions.

Posted by dahsdebater on 4/8/2012 8:41:00 PM (view original):I've never understood the coach calls. If you make player calls you get a slight recruiting boost along with it. Also, if their answer is no you have a chance of them rejecting the call and saving the $10.

I do it because I have never (and will never) been in a spot where the $10 call to a player means something effort-wise, but by calling the coach I always get a documented "yes" or "no" so I never have to guess if I called him or what. I also have a reasonable shot of finding out O/D.

Posted by dahsdebater on 4/8/2012 8:41:00 PM (view original):I've never understood the coach calls. If you make player calls you get a slight recruiting boost along with it. Also, if their answer is no you have a chance of them rejecting the call and saving the $10.

Coach calls are actually more useful. Because the fact is making 1 phone call is not going to win or lose you a battle, but a coach call gets you offense and/or defense info about the player.

Interesting read. Looks like about 75% of what I'm doing, I'm doing wrong. Can't say that I'm all that surprised that I was doing a couple of things incorrectly but I do have to admit I thought after playing the game for a couple of years I wasn't doing things completely backwards. This will really help correct some of the mistakes I've been making. Thanks for the help, aejones.

Posted by m4284850 on 4/8/2012 7:06:00 PM (view original):very helpful. But I have a question:It seems like your D1 team does not have very high REB ratings (but yet they're extremely successful), how important is REB in big men?

I had one good run with my D1 team, but I'm only in my 6th or so season of D1. I think rebounding is as important in HD as it is in real basketball-- it's not important unless it's important. What I mean by that is that a lot of great teams don't necessarily stress rebounding (sure, some teams do, and extra possessions are nice), many of them stress getting back instead of O-rebounding, for example.

Essentially, there are diminishing returns with great rebounding teams. You need so much rebounding, but you can't get it as the sacrifice of other stats. As I mention in the recruiting bit numerous times, just because you say "I have a marginal rebounding team" doesn't mean you need to recruit a 90 rebounding center instead of an 80 rebounding center at the expense of the first player having 60 defense instead of 80 defense.

You should strive to have an adequate rebounding team, but it's not necessary to be elite at it, especially since being great at it usually makes you cough up an edge somewhere else (if you get a great rebounding SF, he's unlikely to be a great offensive option for example).

Rebounding is important-- I'd never put myself in a position where my starters weren't each 70+ rebounders at D3 or 80+ rebounders at D2 unless I had good rebounding guards or something-- it's just not THAT important (it isn't as important as defense, for instance).

What I've been having success with recently is basically built around ATH, DEF, SPEED, BH and REB - in that order. The other ratings are almost, but not quite, afterthoughts. Pretty much concentrating on causing turnovers, avoiding your own turnovers, making teams miss shots and getting the ball when they do. The Possessions game. Like my current team's start I am averaging almost four more non - turnover possessions a game than my opponents - four might not sound like allot, but four extra opportunities a game will win you allot of close games. Add the benefit from a great defense of fouling allot less than your opponents and your players stay in the game more often. Or at least thats my theory.

arssanguinus, the ath/def/spd/bh/reb thing probably will work 90% of the time, but what differentiates a good team and great team is their scoring efficiency. In a very tough conf, if you don't have a couple of dominate scorers, you will lose alot of close games.

Well, keep in mind, I am just now starting to play with an A+ prestige and am trying to bring in more of those other elements as I go. Kinda re-imagined how I was building teams from the ground up and trying to build the foundation before I expand on it. When I start managing to split games with Pitino, or even win against him more than once in a blue moon, I'll know I've gotten there.